Hungry Hearts
by savefrancegetintomypants
Summary: "Seeing Ori in Bagend was both one of the happiest and most horrifying moments in Fili's life." A collection of short chapters, about Fili and Ori.
1. Chapter 1

When Fili was 30, he decided he was in love with Ori.

The very first person he told was Kili. In fact, the only person he told was Kili, who responded by laughing so much, he fell off his bed and tumbled onto the floor.

Fili did not regret the throwing the nearest thing, which turned out to be the assigned homework-reading which both boys had stubbornly ignored for a week now, and throwing it at his brother. He did, however, regret instead hitting the mirror, breaking it, and earning himself a lashing from his uncle.


	2. Chapter 2

Fili decided that, not talking to Ori, was the safest way to go. The younger dwarf had never shown much interest in him, nor Kili and Gimli, preferring his books and quills as company rather than three rowdy, often muddy, dwarflings. Fili respected this, and opted to simply enjoy the youngest brother Ri from afar.

Kili, however, had a different plan. In order to make up for his laughing, he decided to make it his life mission to help his brother court Ori, something Fili did not appreciate at all, as his brother had about as much tact as a orc in a bakery.

"Ori!" Kili shouted, trying to catch the other's attention as he ran towards him. Ori looked terribly frightened and quickly looked behind him, as if in doubt that the youngest prince was speaking to him.

"Ori," Kili halted in front of the dwarf, trying to catch his breath, "you should draw my brother!"

Fili had just caught up as his brother blurted out his plan, instantly feeling a blush rise to his face as Ori turned his gaze to him instead.

"I-i.." Ori stuttered, holding his sketchbook close and standing up, his back rather stiff and the blush on his face, rivaling the one on Fili's.

"Idontknowwhatyouaretalkingab out," he blurted, shoving the book into the tattered satchel he always carried with him, and scurried off to the town, likely running home to hide from annoying princes pestering him.

The glare Fili shot his brother didn't seem to do much to make him realize it was who drove the artist away. Kili simply shrugged, stuffed his hands into his pocket and turned to Fili.

"Huh Fee, seems like he doesn't want to draw you at all," he paused, a grin slowly spreading to his face, "perhaps he doesn't dare to have a go at drawing that monster of a nose you have, could scare the worlds best artist away, that could!"

This time Fili didn't have a book to throw, so instead he threw himself.


	3. Chapter 3

Seeing Ori in Bagend was both one of the happiest and most horrifying moments in Fili's life. The fact that the young scribe had joined the quest, but him in immense danger and horrible situations where Fili knew that he couldn't, now shouldn't if you asked Fili who'd much rather do it himself, always be watched over and protected by Dori and Nori. However, it also meant that Fili could now spend all the time he wanted with the scribe, who he had still kept a distance too, even as the years went by and they both grew up and became the young dwarrows they are today.

Fili was impressed by Ori. He knew that he didn't care much for fighting, nor did he even have a weapon of choice – well he had the slingshot, but that was hardly a weapon at all – yet he still went on a dangerous mission which could very well mean his death. He still stood up, proud, brave and strong, and declared that he wasn't afraid of the dragon and that he would make him taste the dwarven steel – that he himself lacked, Fili couldn't help but note – right up the jacksee.

Sure, the bravery seemed a bit misplaced, and perhaps Ori was trying a bit too hard to fit in with the older, more experienced dwarves at the table, hoping perhaps to impress a warrior or two – Fili ignored the flicker of pain in his heart at that thought – but then again, so did Fili and Kili, so Fili wasn't one to judge.

Not that he could ever think ill of Ori.


	4. Chapter 4

The night Ori presented him with a pair of gloves, Fili almost fell off the stone he had been sitting on.

He had been sitting by the fire, sharpening his weapons and gazing repeatedly towards his brother with a smile on his face, who was currently sitting with Bofur, playing the fiddle and laughing merrily together. Ori had scurried towards him, for once not catching the prince's attention, and made his presence know by stammering out the prince's name and holding a pair of woolen gloves towards him.

"I-I made them for you."

Fili felt his mouth dry and his tongue seemed to swell in his mouth, making it impossible for him to do anything else than retrieve the offered gift from Ori's hand, and stare at it for a while, the wheels in his head running amok. As he finally found his tongue and looked up again to thank the scribe with all of his heart, he only just caught sight of a red-faced Ori going towards the woods, yelling out quickly that he went to fetch some firewood.

Ori didn't return till much later, when most of the company had gone to sleep, sending a quick greeting to Kili, who was keeping watch, settling into his made-up bed near his brothers.

Kili simply smiled and continued to watch the fire until Dwalin came and relieved him from his post. And if the youngest prince noticed that his brother slept with a pair for knitted gloves held tightly in his hands, pressed against his face, he didn't comment on it the next day.


	5. Chapter 5

It was a few days later, that Dori approached him.

Fili had always been a bit (note: a lot) terrified of the eldest Ri brother, and now was no different. So when Dori was suddenly riding beside him on his pony, a stern look on his face, Fili honestly toyed with the idea of simply jumping off the horse and running as far away as his legs could carry him. But he was a prince of Erebor, Heir to the line of Durin, so he didn't. You must face your enemies, no matter how terrifying they might be, or now matter how hard they might be able to smack you over the head with a wooden spoon.

Fili had learned that the hard way, when he was younger, more daring but also a whole lot more stupid, and had tried one feeble attempt at wooing Ori, by telling the dwarfling that even if he wasn't dwarf-like and didn't wield a weapon like Fili, Fili could be dwarf enough for both of them. This, of course, had made the young Ori cry, and made Dori hunt him down.

"We need to have a talk, young prince."

The formal part was always the one, which terrified Fili the most. No matter how angry he was, Dori would always act perfectly polite, until the one moment when he snapped.

"Master Dori," Fili said, prompting the elder to begin which ever talk he wished for them to have.

"You must give an answer to him, it is simply too cruel of you to leave it un-responded like this."

"What do you mean?" Fili had no idea what Dori could be referring to, but if something he did made others think he was cruel, he would be sure to fix it.

"Ori," Dori explained "you must answer his gift, even if you only wish to deny, leaving him in the dark like this is barbaric."

Fili felt his entire world crash down around him. He barely manage to croak out an affirmation to the waiting dwarf, before quickly rummaging through his satchel, finding the prized possession Ori had gifted him with a few days prior.

The craftsmanship was beautiful and the wool soft and tightly knitted, Fili had almost been afraid the wear them, fearing that he would rip them, or they would simply get worn out. Instead he opted to save them in his bag, only putting them on at night when he went to sleep; rubbing his hand against his cheeks, sniffing the scent that he was certain was of Ori, still lingering in the wool.

Had it been a courting gift?

Ori had never shown any desire that could cause Fili to believe that the younger dwarf was interested in him. Fili had long since resigned for the fact that he would never be with his True Love, and was very content to simply watch from afar instead.

Had Ori seen him watching, and decided to court him because he felt he should, as Fili was the heir?

No, Fili couldn't believe that Ori would think like that. He had never cared about FIli and Kili being princes before, so why should he now?

But, this meant that the courting gift had been given by Ori's free will, and that the scribe wanted Fili as much as Fili wanted him. This meant that they could and would be together and they would be able to grow old together, and love together and die together, so long as they both lived through this wretched quest. This meant Fili had to find a courting gift to give in return, to make Ori know of his intentions.

The sound Fili let out at this thought was very manly indeed.


	6. Chapter 6

It was rather pitiful, Fili decided as he looked that the wooden figurine he had been able to craft for Ori. It was lumpy and scratchy to touch, and had very little resembles to the flower he had tried to create, (lavender; because Ori wore those woven into his braids.)

But it was tradition to give your intended something you'd made yourself, and due to the fact that he had realized (Fili almost slapped himself on the forehead by just thinking about it) that Ori had tried to court him, Fili had to make hast and produce something rather quickly, to not make Ori have to wait any longer.

If the dirty looks he got from Dori and Nori, and the sad looks he got from Ori, were anything to go by, Fili was long overdue with his return-present and in the end it was more the thought behind it that mattered, not the quality of the work. (Fili told himself this repeatedly.)

He could always make Ori something better after the quest. In fact, there wasn't a thing in the world Fili wouldn't give Ori after they had retaken Erebor.

Even though Ori had taken the first step, and Fili _knew_ that the dwarrow liked him in that sense of the word, walking over to him and handing him the gift was still impossibly hard to do.

Ori sat with his brothers on the other side of camp. He had taken to keeping some distance between himself and Fili ever since giving him the gloves, which Fili now understood much better after his talk with Dori. And it didn't hurt nearly as much now, whenever Ori would speak to Kili and everyone else in the company, laughing with them and seemingly enjoying their companionship, because now Fili knew why Ori was keeping the distance between them. All he had to do was fix it now, and in his hand, he held the key to do so.

Striding over towards the brothers Ri, Fili tried to look as calm and collected as possible, but he was certain that the dread that had settled in his stomach, was also shown on his face. (Later that evening, Kili would laughingly tell him that he had looked constipated, a claim Ori wouldn't deny no matter how much Fili pleaded him to.)

"Ori," Fili's voice was defiantly shaking; even he had to admit that.

The scribe looked up at him with terrified eyes, clearly certain that Fili had come to reject his advances. Instead of doing that, Fili lost his nerve, threw the wooden token into Ori's lad and fled the scene, running into the forest beside them. He could hear (or rather, not hear) the stunned silence in the camp he left behind him

He didn't run for long, quickly stopping to lean against a large three. He banged his head against the wood behind him, cursing himself to Erebor and back for losing his nerve and running away like a scared child. The act had certainly not befitted an heir of Erebor, and Fili was certain that he would be getting a lashing from Throin later on. Princes needed to show courage and guts, not only when facing battle but in all situations. Hiding in the woods was not the way of the Durin line.

"Fili?"

He heard Ori before he saw him, the sound of his boots as the young dwarf ran between the threes, searching for the lost prince. It didn't take him too long to find him, as Fili had done nothing to hide himself from view. He simply sat against the three, this time determined to face his fate.

"Fili," there was relief in Ori's voice when he looked upon his childhood friend, Fili, in turn, felt his heart drop to his stomach when he didn't see the token anywhere on Ori's person. Perhaps he had waited too long to answer, perhaps Ori had moved on, perhaps Dori had been wrong and Ori had never meant it to be a courting gift.

"The token, Fili, was it – I mean – is it.." Ori was clearly having a hard time gathering his thoughts, but Fili understood him nonetheless.

"Yes, it was."

Ori looked at him for a while, face blank, showing no sign of any reaction to Fili confirmation. Instead he reached into his ever-present satchel and pulled out the wooden flower.

"Lavender?" Fili nodded "like in my braids."

There was still no sign of any emotion on Ori's face, as he sat down next to Fili, opting to lean forward instead of leaning against the tree. Fili tried his best to look indifferent as well, but found it hard to do so.

"This isn't a joke is it?"

"NO!"

Fili almost jumped to his feet at the question, but instead he looked at Ori with a desperate look on his face, hands gripping the scribe's shoulders tightly.

"I would never do that to you, Ori! Not to anyone!" Frustrated, Fili ran a hand through his hair, trying to find the right words to say, "I intended to answer your courting gift – I mean I _hope_ was a courting gift – and I .. I'm saying _yes_ Ori, if you will have me."

Silence stretched out between them, both of them looking into each other's eyes – Fili's desperate, Ori's still uncomfortably blank – until Ori's crinkled at the side, a large smile stretching out his face.

"Good," he said, his hand finding Fili's, "because it was, a courting gift that is."


	7. Chapter 7

Im so sorry babbus. If you have any fic request, or would like to check out the stuff I make but dont upload here, go to my tumblr: nerdishparadise

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Being trapped in the mountain Fili felt both more at home and more homesick, than he ever had before.

As soon as they entered the mountain, something settled in him, something he hadn't known was amiss suddenly disappeared, and he could feel it to the very center of his bones.

By his side Ori had gripped his hand and they shared a smile, before Fili went on to follow his uncle deeper into the mountain. They had much to do.

When Smaug was killed and his uncle descended to the same madness that Fili knew had taken his great-grandfather, all the heir of Durin could wish for was his mother.

He felt ashamed for doing so, a dwarf his age should long ago have been over the age where he needed to seek the comfort of his mother's skirts, and instead he settled between his solemn looking brother, and a scared Ori. And if he snuck over to sleep by the scribe that night, burrowing his face into his big scarf, hoping the smell of his One would drown out the awful stench of dragon and madness, and sobbed silent tears of regret and crushed dreams, Ori never said anything.

The days were passed in a mess of Ori and darkness. The food was running out, and the air was getting tense in the company. At every meal, Fili made sure to give some of his share to Ori, and some to Kili, and eat whatever leftovers there might be for him. Thorin didn't eat at all.

The day he banished the Hobbit, Fili gave up all hope and that night Ori sat by his side whispering soothing words of love and kindness, while Fili stared into the darkness, one hand gripping the hilt of his sword, and the other gripping his scribe's.

When news of the Orcs reached them, Fili gave Ori a kiss and one of his swords, making him promise that they would meet again after the battle, and when they did, they would marry.

Ori had smiled for the first time in days at his words, and left with two kisses. One long and brutal, and one small and tender, the last one only a peck, as if he wasn't quite ready to let Fili go.

The battle was horrid, like nothing Fili had ever seen before. It was all a blur of blood, mud and bodies. Sometimes he wasn't even sure which species he was killing, he knew only that his blade had hit something and it had fallen, and then he moved on to the next living thing to end.

He had left Ori by his brothers, he would be safe there – there was no one who would give as much as Dori would to keep his brother safe, save maybe Fili himself – and instead opted for staying by his own brother. They fought in tandem, like they had done so many times before, movement fluid and always aware of the other's next move, always by each others' backs.

Except everything wasn't as fluid as it usually was, when they trained. The harsh reality of a true battle was that even though you were an expert on the trainingfield, even though you might know your brother in and out, and knew how to react accordingly, you could never truly be prepare for what it would be like when you stood between death or victory. True battle was unpredictable and all you could do was fight to survive the best you could, and hope someone had enough sense about them to keep your back.

It all happened so fast when they found their uncle, and Fili knew even as he stood between his dying uncle and the warg-riding Orc, that there was nothing he could do for any of them. They would all die here, and he was at peace with this.

He only wished that he could have seen Ori one last time, to know that his scribe was safe and sound would always have been his last wish.

And so it was.


End file.
